Manatee First responders gathered on the Riverwalk to honor those lost on 9-11 | From the Bradenton Herald

BY JESSICA DE LEON
jdeleon@bradenton.comSeptember 11, 2015

BRADENTON — Manatee County first responders, officials and members of the community gathered on Bradenton Riverwalk to pay tribute to those lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

After fourteen years of tributes, Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston said it is important to keep the memory alive.

“It’s really when our country got attacked on our own soil and that’s the hard thing for everybody to get their head around,” Poston said.

Those who lost their lives that day, need to be remembered, he added.

“Those fireman, those responders that went into the twin towers, they knew they weren’t coming out but they went in anyway for a chance that they could help somebody else, save somebody else,” Poston said. “That’s what America’s about, everybody helping everybody.”

Bradenton resident Tammie Smith, like most people, still remembered where she was on 9/11.

“I was at work, and I think everybody came to a standstill,” Smith said.

Bradenton police crime specialist Scottie Camacho was among the dozens of first responders in attendance. She, like many, was in her daily uniform.

“If we don’t tell our next generation, it will get lost and it’s our history,” Camacho said

After a group photo, Manatee Technical College Fire Academy student Evan Moore reflected before the Manatee County First responder’s monument.

Moore, who will one day be a firefighter too, felt a duty in paying tribute Friday.

“It’s something that I feel I have to do, to honor the firefighters who gave their lives that day trying to save others,” Moore said. “And it’s an honor to be here.”

Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitter@JDeLeon1012.

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